Kyle Marlon
Kyle Marlon was the King of the Kingdom of Marlon and the son of Queen Dowager Prim. After falling in love with Michaela and rejecting his betrothed, Princess Riliane, Kyle unwittingly sparked the Lucifenia-Elphegort War. Having lost his beloved to Riliane, Kyle secretly supported the Lucifenian Resistance, annexing Lucifenia as a Marlon territory in the wake of its revolution. Possessed by the Demon of Pride, Kyle threatened to expand an imperialist Marlon regime across all of Evillious. History Early Life Kyle was born on February 17, EC 474 within the Marlon Royal Family. Fifth in line to the Kingdom of Marlon's crown, he dreamed of becoming a brave warrior who would go on adventures instead of being King. Sometime during his youth, his mother Prim began relating to him stories of Elluka Clockworker's wartime heroics, Kyle learning Prim had been mentored by her. Forbidden to learn swordplay or naval tactics by his mother, Kyle lost interest in heroics and decided to become a painter under the pen name "Karchess Crim"; during that period, he began learning about famous artists, idolizing the contemporary works of Nikolay Tolle. Around this time, Kyle encountered his mother Prim's close friend, the mage Abyss I.R.. In EC 484, Kyle met Mikina Sfarz at one of the royal banquets. In EC 488, at fourteen, Kyle moved into the city with relatives and received tutoring in painting from Margaret. Struck by Margaret's intelligent demeanor and kindness, Kyle developed a crush on her, although later learning she was already married. That same year, his mother brought a young relative, really Ney Marlon, to visit, and Kyle unwittingly painted a portrait of his own little sister. After Margaret's apparent suicide via poison while imprisoned in EC 489, Kyle grew suspicious of the circumstances; after meeting and hiring Keel Freezis to investigate her death, he learned Prim handed the poison off to a guard who gave it to Margaret. Afterwards, Kyle became fully devoted to becoming an artist and became close friends with Keel. After being harshly criticized by several art dealers and critics bribed by his mother, including his idol Nikolay Tolle, Kyle was demoralized; after his father's death in EC 490, he destroyed all of his paintings except the portrait of Ney. It was later purchased by Keel for safekeeping. Around that time, Kyle received a hand mirror from his mother. He also began learning fencing under his instructor, Lutwidge. Sometime after, he joined the Marlon army in battling a small band of pirates to test his skills; he returned home to a furious Prim, who forbid him from traveling anywhere without the protection of the navy. With the Royal Victoricia as his escort vessel, Kyle became close friends with its captain, Admiral Dylan. The King from Across the Ocean In EC 494, Kyle was crowned king after a bout of political turmoil. As the years progressed, Kyle grew to suspect more and more how his mother had interfered in his life, including murdering several of his half-siblings, so he had no choice but to ascend to the throne; he also overheard his subjects regarding him as a mere puppet of his mother. Around that time, Kyle began visiting with his betrothed, Princess Riliane of the Kingdom of Lucifenia; the two became very close, with Kyle giving her a shell pendant as part of their courtship. Later on, Kyle saw his surviving half-brother, Arkatoir, return as a civil servant in parliament, learning that Arkatoir wanted more to life than plowing fields as a peasant. Once Keel and Mikina became popular merchants after eloping to Elphegort, Kyle began attending his friend's monthly banquets at his mansion in Aceid while incognito. In EC 499, he attended Riliane's fourteenth birthday party and spent the evening with his fiancée. He also, around this time, learned about the dire famine afflicting the country and Riliane's refusal to relieve the citizenry's starvation. A month later in EC 500, Kyle attended another banquet at Keel's mansion and was dazzled by his new servant, Michaela, who sang for the banquet. Shocked by her resemblance to Margaret and her beauty, Kyle instantly became enamored with her. Following the performance, he was introduced to Michaela directly and was further charmed by Michaela's kind and funny personality. Sometime after, he decided to confess his feelings to her; bringing a coral shell pendant to another of Keel's banquets, Kyle found Michaela in the drawing room after her performance, studying his surviving childhood painting. Kyle then approached and explained his history with painting, albeit fudging the years to make himself seem younger. After sharing some of his conflicting feelings on being king with her, Kyle hesitantly confessed to Michaela that he loved her. Michaela then stated she didn't understand what love was; initially insulted by what appeared to be feigned ignorance, Kyle nonetheless tried to explain the concept to her, although ultimately unsure if he made it clear enough. After he apologized for his failure, Kyle nonetheless offered her the shell pendant as a gift and suggested that, as she still didn't know, they start out as friends first; with his persuasion, the girl finally accepted. After learning of Leonhart Avadonia's death, Kyle joined in mourning at the warrior's funeral, departing after his burial. Afterward, he regularly visited Elphegort over the following weeks, arranging a meeting with Keel and King Thorny Elphen to discuss relieving Lucifenia's food shortage; during the period, he met up with Michaela at Keel's mansion almost every day, talking to her often. The day of his planned meeting with Keel and Thorny at the Freezis Mansion, Kyle went to see Michaela and instead met with Clarith; told Michaela was out buying green onions, he went to find her at the market. After meeting up with Michaela, Kyle helped her on her shopping trip and the two chatted; as they crossed a bridge on the way back, he saw Clarith fall into the water and dived in after her, pulling her to safety. That night, he met with Keel and Thorny and convinced them to help send aid to Lucifenia to relieve the populace and improve diplomatic relations, agreeing to also send aid on behalf of Marlon. After Keel ordered some liquor for them to enjoy, Kyle watched Clarith burst in drunk; as she angrily ranted about Kyle having kept his engagement a secret from Michaela, Kyle protested before Clarith began ranting at Keel instead. Green Hunting The next day, Keel showed Kyle the Venom Sword he had in his collection; although refusing to purchase the weapon, as he came in contact with it, he was unknowingly possessed by the Demon of Lust. Afterwards he went to see Michaela before his departure; as Michaela treated him coldly, Kyle learned that she had discovered his engagement to Riliane. Kyle explained that Riliane was more a sister to him, telling Michaela that the marriage was arranged and not made out of love. As he considered even defying the arrangement, he was shocked when Michaela, at last, flatly and firmly rejected him. Although understanding her wishes, Kyle's demonic possession filled him with a sudden and uncontrollable lust for Michaela. Right before leaving, he suddenly embraced her and begged her to run away with him, before getting control of himself and asking her to forget his words. After he returned to Marlon, Kyle bolstered Keel's aid to Lucifenia with his own as a gesture of good faith to his betrothed. A few weeks later, Kyle impulsively decided to void his engagement with Riliane; writing a letter to her explaining how he was in love with a girl in Elphegort, he gave it to Prime Minister Minis of Lucifenia during the man's visit to thank Marlon for its aid. Explaining the situation, Kyle sent Minis off and prepared to depart for Elphegort, only for Prim to imprison him under house arrest. A week later, after being freed, Kyle received a letter from Keel explaining that Riliane had decided to exterminate all the green haired women in Elphegort until his "lover" was killed. Told of Michaela's hiding place in the Millennium Tree Forest, Kyle sent a letter back saying he could smuggle Michaela away from the conflict in no more than a week and departed for Elphegort. Arriving at Keel's hiding place a few days later, Kyle was horrified and grieved to discover Michaela's corpse, the girl having been assassinated. Once Elluka and her apprentice, Gumillia, extracted the corpse from him, Kyle departed with just the shell pendant that he had given her. Donning a mask, the grieving and possessed Kyle impulsively approached the Lucifenian Resistance, led by Leonhart's daughter Germaine, and offered them his aid. Lucifenian Revolution After Kyle supplied the resistance with his soldiers to bolster their army, he met with them in the resistance's base in the Millennium Tree forest. Although quarreling with York briefly when the man questioned his loyalty, this mistrust was quickly put aside and the meeting proceeded. During the meeting, Kyle suspected that Germaine had discovered his identity, but regardless told the revolutionaries to call him "Karchess." He later watched as the blacksmith Smith Langley arrived with supplies for the revolutionaries. Once the Lucifenian Revolution began, the disguised Kyle and his masked soldiers assisted the Resistance and Elphegort armies and helped score successive victories against the Lucifenian army. On the second week of the Revolution, Kyle's forces decimated the recalled forces from Retasan Fortress and the Babul Desert. Afterward, Karchess brought his forces to Rolled to combat the Venom Mercenaries' forces, battling alongside Marc, another revolutionary leader. During battle with the commander of the mercenaries, Gast Venom, Kyle was wounded and Marc intervened to save his life; although forcing Gast and subsequently the other mercenaries to flee, Marc was killed by the "Demon of Asmodean" in the process. Kyle continued the push with the revolutionary army towards the kingdom's capital, later meeting up with Germaine outside the palace's main gate. After discussing their need to hurry and apologizing for Marc's death, Kyle followed Germaine into the palace's Heavenly Yard and the two assailed the courtyard with their forces, only to be held back by one of the Three Heroes, Mariam Phutapie. After Chartette Langley took Mariam on herself, Kyle's forces broke through enemy lines and he led the assault into the palace. Sometime during the fighting, Kyle encountered a guardsman, Clive. Kyle and Germaine then divided their forces, with Kyle's half finding Prime Minister Minis; as Minis tried to escape, Kyle slew him allegedly for resisting arrest and sent a messenger to report this to Germaine. After Princess Riliane was found and captured, the revolution was complete. Sometime after the revolution, Kyle went drinking with York and learned the story of how Germaine was adopted by Leonhart. Kyle also visited the imprisoned princess and realized she was not Riliane but her servant, Allen Avadonia, who also confessed to being Michaela's murderer. In light of the outrage that would occur if Riliane were not killed, as well as his own anger, Kyle told Allen he would be executed in the princess' place. Soon after the revolution ended, Kyle received a letter from his mother demanding that Lucifenia come under Marlon's jurisdiction and he agreed to the request. He later attended the peace meeting in the Hall of Sounds along with Keel, King Thorny, Germaine, and the other revolutionary leaders, having revealed his identity to them as all the King of Marlon. Once the meeting began Kyle discussed the status of the surrendered Lucifenian army and that that of the Three Heroes, disclosing to everyone Mariam's mysterious death after the battle. He then elaborated on Prim's proposal to take Lucifenia under Marlon control. Personality and Traits Kyle was an honest and caring individual trapped by the will of others. Lacking the desire to become a king, he despised his mother for her cruelty and the machinations she took that forced him into the role. As a result, he held the lingering notion of escaping the royal family and living like a commoner with a family. He was similarly frustrated with himself and insecure about the path that his life went down, being unable to control Prim's methods and being unable to achieve any of his own dreams. These frustrations in part fueled his dependence on the Demon of Pride, and his own resolve to go confront his family once he was freed of possession. Despite his dislike of being king, Kyle was nonetheless proud of the responsibilities and took it, as well as himself, very seriously. He similarly got embarrassed easily and hated to be teased. Kyle's pride, when influenced by the demon, turned into hubris and fueled his conviction that he could do no wrong, the king constantly using the mirror to soothe his doubts, confusion, and insecurities. Although ordinarily having a pessimistic view on politics, he thus became fully interested in widening his political field and Marlon's territorial gain regardless of who suffered for it. Even when not acting as king, Kyle was generally pleasant mannered, responsible, and friendly, although sometimes he would act foolhardy as well. In his off hours, he would hide the fact that he was a king so as to be able to converse with people more naturally, and only rarely tried to use his political clout in an unofficial setting, although he sometimes teased others with it. Fitting with this, Kyle's true passion was for painting and for partaking in adventures such as his mother always disapproved of. He also had a tendency to lie about his age to make himself seem a little more attractive. Skills and Abilities Raised into being the king of Marlon from a young age, the Kyle was knowledgeable about the state of affairs in Evillious and the running of a country. This political knowledge extended to an understanding of military tactics, knowing how to command armies directly under him and serve as a capable leader in more than one campaign; his abilities were, however, believed to be inferior to more charismatic kings such as Arth Lucifen d'Autriche. Additionally his skills in swordplay, cultivated in his youth, were considerable and Kyle was able to hold his own against pirates and trained soldiers alike, although he had more difficulty fighting off quick opponents like Gast. Aside from his qualities as a leader Kyle had many resources as a king to use to his advantage, including usage of the Freezis Foundation's information network and hold on the Evillious economy. Although at times unwittingly, he also made use of resources obtained from him by his mother, such as using magic from the Demon of Pride after his possession or more willingly making use of the Special Maneuvers Task Force. With all of his resources, following his possession Kyle was able to maintain a strong grip on the mainland of the Evillious for several years and keep his opponents on the run. Kyle also had skills as a painter developed during his childhood. Tutored in the art, the prince at the time was a prolific artist that worked with landscapes and portraiture, although vulnerable to harsh critique from any superiors in the art world. Despite quitting his art as a teenager and resuming only later into adulthood, the king painted until the end of his life and became renowned as he traveled through the Evillious region. Relationships Prim Marlon: Kyle's mother. Kyle hated his mother for her cruel and manipulative ways of keeping him Marlon's King, unable to forgive her for ruining his dreams but unable to break free of her influence. Despite this, after learning the full extent of her treachery, Kyle was unable to believe it and began clinging to other possibilities. After she revealed her plot for herself, he realized his mother was insane and resolved to take responsibility for her deeds. Ney Phutapie: Kyle's half-sister, as well as perceived ally. Kyle and Ney were amiable acquaintances in childhood, though he was often incensed by her whimsical behavior when she was hired as his Head of Espionage; Kyle would later be greatly shaken to learn the truth of their relationship. Though willing to fight her as an agent of Prim, Kyle was saddened to see Ney taken away from him, recognizing her past innocence, and quickly came to care for her as his sister. Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche: Kyle's betrothed. Due to their friendship, Kyle was more forgiving of Riliane's tyrannical behavior than others, although he himself had no wish to marry her. Though initially caring for her as a sister, this friendship turned to hate after she demanded the death of Michaela, sparking a desire for vengeance in him. After Allen's death, Kyle became apathetic towards Riliane and wished nothing more to do with her. Keel Freezis: A good friend of Kyle's. Kyle saw Keel as a trusted friend, dating from childhood, seeing the Freezis home as a safe haven from his duties as king. Knowing the merchant on an intimate level, he often attended Keel's banquets or asked him for favors using his connections. As an extension, Kyle treated Keel's family with hospitality whenever they came to visit. Michaela: Kyle's love. Kyle fell madly in love with Michaela due to her beautiful voice and appearance, to the point of wanting to abandon his duties to run away with her, although he was puzzled by her misunderstanding of love. Her death caused him great grief and awakened his desire for vengeance; this desire became an all-consuming focus after he was possessed by the Demon of Pride. Germaine Avadonia: An ally during the Lucifenian Revolution and a temporary enemy. Kyle was incensed at Germaine's teasing of him before and after he revealed himself, though was impressed enough with her skills to offer her a place in the annexed Lucifenia's government. He became furious with Germaine when believing she had a role in Michaela's death, but returned to being her ally after he came to his senses. Yukina Freezis: A friend of Kyle's. Kyle became friends with Yukina as a member of Keel's family, showing her warm hospitality when the latter came to visit. Although initially furious at Yukina's perceived deception of him, after he came to his senses he was grateful to her for her aid. Kyle showed concern for Yukina's well-being and enjoyed spending time with her, choosing to live with her after living out his dream as a painter. Leonhart Avadonia: An old acquaintance of Kyle's. The Marlon King appeared among those close to him at his funeral. Their relationship was kept secret. Allen Avadonia: A servant of Riliane. Kyle hated Allen for his claimed role in Michaela's death, physically attacking him due to this. Despite his rage, Kyle was impressed by the servant's dedication to Riliane. Trivia * His surname, Marlon, is a reference to Mammon, the patron demon of Greed. * Kyle's pen name is the same as that of his ancestor who killed Duke Sateriasis Venomania. * He shares the same birthday (December 14th) with his reincarnation. * Although he lived together with Yukina in his later life, they did not share a marital relationship. Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Seven Deadly Sins Series Category:The Daughter of Evil Category:Gift from the Princess who Brought Sleep Category:Marlon Category:Lucifenia Category:Marlon Family Category:Lust Category:Pride Category:LunariaAsmr